Stitches
by bloodmagik
Summary: Grace has an ill-fated run in with a kitchen knife.
1. Chapter 1 - Grace

I've got major writer's block at the moment so I thought I'd see if I could shift it by writing a follow-up to Grace's little run in from Steve's perspective.  
Apologies if you've already read/liked/commented on this chapter - I've gone over it again and made a few changes because I wasn't happy with it. Chapter two will be up soon. :)

* * *

Grace is pretty sure that her Uncle Steve is overreacting. Honestly, it's just a little cut. A little cut that happens to be bleeding a little bit. Okay, a lot.  
But he's still overreacting. He's the last person Grace expected to have dragging her to the emergency room because of a little blood. Fine, a lot of blood. Enough to make her feel strangely lightheaded every time she catches sight of the towel Steve is wrapping around her hand. It's not white any more.  
She begs her uncle to patch it up himself but he refuses. Apparently, Steve is responsible for her while Danno is stuck at work and her mom is on the mainland, and that means going to the hospital where they give you drugs before sticking needles into your skin. She gives Steve the silent treatment after that.

Grace is desperately trying to keep her hands from shaking. She's not scared. The suture needle is just a bit bigger than she was expecting. A lot bigger. It's freaking huge.  
Silent treatment be damned. She caves before the doctor is finished tying off the first suture and ends up gripping Steve's hand so hard that she's expecting there to be deep grooves in his skin when she lets go.

The doctor doesn't have a clue when it comes to talking to kids and Grace is just about ready to tell him to forget about the stitches, she'd rather bleed to death than suffer through another minute of this guy talking to her like she's four years old. The offer of a sticker and a lollipop is the final straw.  
A warning look from Steve is enough to stop her telling the idiot in the blue scrubs where to stick his stupid lollipop. For the first time ever, she has to work to keep her mouth shut.

The hospital insists on jabbing her again before they let her go. Steve doesn't know when Grace's last tetanus shot was and Danno is conveniently not answering his phone. Great, more needles. She's going to look like a human pincushion by the time they're done poking at her. Maybe she'll spring a leak.  
At least the nurse doesn't treat her like a petulant toddler. It doesn't make the shot hurt any less though.

Danno is officially freaking out. Who needs speakerphone when there's a hysterical father on the other end of the line? She's not even kidding. She can hear every single word. It'll be a miracle if Steve's eardrums survive the call.  
All of this drama over a little cut.

Fine, a big cut.


	2. Chapter 2 - Steve

Steve is _not_ overreacting.

The three-inch gash on Gracie's palm doesn't look like much but it's bleeding more than the proverbial stuck pig and the trail of blood has already worked its way down the length of Grace's arm by the time he scrambles for a dishtowel, dotting the tiles between their feet with flecks of red as the blood pools at the tip of Grace's elbow before succumbing to the pull of gravity.  
His niece is looking a little too pale beneath her summer tan as he wraps the towel around the wound and raises her hand up over her head. A trip to the emergency room it is, then.

Grace gives him the silent treatment when he refuses to stitch up her hand himself. He doesn't know whether to be amused or hurt that his niece is annoyed with him for _not_ wanting to stick a needle into her skin, of all things. Sure, he's had to stitch up more wounds than he cares remember but this is _Gracie _and, as much as his partner finds the fact that his ten-year-old daughter has a big, bad Navy Seal wrapped around her little finger amusing, he's pretty sure that Danny will never talk to him again if he doesn't insist on taking Gracie to a hospital where they'll give her drugs before sticking needles into her skin.

Gracie's eyes widen when the doctor pulls the fresh suture needle out of its sterile packaging but she still gives the whole silent treatment thing as good as she's got despite the fear in her eyes and the subtle shake of her hands. At least, until the doctor starts to tie off the first suture. Grace ends up gripping his hand so tight he's pretty sure he's going to need a crowbar to prise her fingers from where they're clamped around his own. Not that he's complaining.  
Steve will never admit it out loud but he kind of likes feeling needed, even if being needed means sacrificing being able to feel his fingers for however long it takes the doctor to stitch up Gracie's hand.

Danny's always ribbing him about what he refers to as Steve's lack of 'mammal-to-mammal communication skills' but honestly, the doctor treating Grace takes the cake. The guy doesn't have a clue when it comes to talking to kids and Steve's spent enough time around Gracie to realise when his partner's usually affable daughter really isn't taking to someone.  
He shoots his niece a warning look when the offer of a sticker and a lollipop for 'being such a brave girl' goes down like a lead balloon. Grace might only be ten years old but she's her father's daughter through and through, and Steve's been on the receiving end of enough of Danny's rants, and even a fist or two, to know that his partner doesn't suffer fools lightly.

Danno is officially freaking out. Who needs speakerphone when there's a hysterical father on the other end of the line?  
Steve's ears are ringing before he can even try to convince his partner that, despite Grace's little accident, he is perfectly capable of watching the little girl until Danny's done at work.  
He's not sure Danny agrees so he hangs up before the detective can gather enough momentum to make the shift from hysterical to apoplectic. Steve tells himself that it has nothing to do with the fact that his eardrums might not survive another minute of his partner's headache-inducing rant, and everything to do with the fact that Danny is perfectly willing to risk being found in contempt of court over of a couple of stitches. Grace giggles when he hangs up on her father without so much as a goodbye.

_Honestly_, he thinks to himself as he leads Gracie across the parking lot to his truck, _All of this drama over a little cut._


End file.
